How It's Made

Milk + Cultures + Rennet + Salt = Love

Farmstead cheesemaking enables us to see and experience the relationship between the feed that we grow, the animals we care for and the milk they produce, and how it creates a high quality, good tasting cheese. If you want to learn a bit more about just how we do it... watch the videos below.

1. Receiving Milk

At Redhead Creamery, milk comes directly from the milking parlor to the cheese plant via stainless steel pipeline through an underground tunnel. We receive fresh, warm milk directly from the cow allowing us to save energy on cooling the milk first and instead, going directly to pasteurization.

2. Adding Cultures

Cultures are enzymes that contribute to the ultimate characteristics of each cheese. They can be grown by the cheesemaker (not as common) or purchased by a supplier who sells frozen, freeze-dried or liquid cultures.

3. Adding Rennet

We currently use a liquid rennet at Redhead Creamery that gets added directly to the vat of milk. Only 30mL of microbial rennet is needed per 1,000 pounds of milk and can set (coagulate) the entire vat of milk within 25-40 minutes. We call this “The Miracle of Coagulation”. What is Rennet? Click here to find out!

4. Salt

Salt is essential to cheesemaking. It directly influences the quality and safety characteristics of almost all cheeses. All of Redhead Creamery’s cheeses are salted by hand.